RWBY: The Dragons of Remnant
by Kaiju Alpha
Summary: During a Fall-time storm, an injured dragoness named Ruby Rose fall from the sky onto the farm of Oscar Pines' aunt. Soon enough, both the farm boy and the dragoness begin to grow close to each other... while a terrifying threat waits in the shadows. (Dragon!AU) (Ruby X Oscar)
1. The Girl from the Sky

**The Girl from the Sky**

She was falling, the rain stinging her torn left wing membrane as she fell from the storm cloud, unable to fully stay aloft with just one functioning wing. Losing consciousness, she was running out of options and would end up nothing more than a big, scaly mess on the ground. She had to try at least. She opened her undamaged wing first which began to slow her descent and got to slowly opening her injured wing. She ground her fangs together and clenched her eyes shut as the sharp pain of just _moving_ it into place began to take effect. When she finally got it opened, her descent started to get more controlled. However, she needed a place to land and recover... and fast.

Oscar Pines was just now rounding up the last of the chickens into his aunt's barn. He looked up toward the darkened afternoon sky and sighed in relief that he got the animals into shelter just in time. Having lived this long in Mistral's farmlands, the eighteen-year-old had seen his fair share in storms of such magnitude. And, while tornado season was over, he knew all too well about the early Autumn squalls. "Oscar! Are the animals safe?" his aunt called out.

"Just got the last of them into the barn, Aunt Maple!" the farm boy replied.

"Well, hurry back inside as soon as you can!"

"Okay!"

At that moment, the farm boy was nearly knocked off his feet as a gust struck him like a bullet. The young man had to close his eyes and close them shut to protect them from the stinging squall winds. Oscar was about to head back inside when he heard a rumbling sound. At first, his mind clicked to it being thunder... but thunder didn't sound like that. He looked up and noticed a large object falling a meter away from him which hit the earth, sending up clumps of dirt and grass and causing the ground to shudder beneath his feet.

Oscar opened his eyes once he noticed the winds had died down for the moment... and almost had them pop out of his skull. In front of him, was a dragon. The beast was easily the size of the barn if not a bit bigger. It had mostly black scales but its crest and underbelly had blood-red scales. A pair of black horns stuck out on either side of its blunt head while stripes of red scales hung above its closed eyes like mascara. Each of its four legs ended in curved, eagle-like talons; four on each claw and pitch black like its horns. A pair of bat-like wings wrapped around the beast's body like a red cloak while what looked like a red scythe blade rested on the end of its long tail. A silver, rose-shaped pendant the size of his head dangled from where its long neck met its body. Slowly, Oscar began to creep towards the fallen beast, both awestruck by the sight of a creature responsible for protecting human and Faunus settlements from the Creatures of Grimm... and saddened he may have seen it fall to its death. However, almost as soon as he reached out, the dragon's eyes snapped open and its reptilian head was now inches from his, its jaws pulled back into a savage, fanged snarl, and its wolf-like eyes, which he noted being silver in color, narrowed. _Great,_ he thought, _I'm gonna be dragon chow._

However, instead of feeling the fangs of the dragon digging into his flesh, he heard it groan in what seemed to be pain as it spread its left wing to investigate it. Oscar noticed there was a large, blood-caked gash in its membrane. The dragon raised its right foreleg to touch the wing and hissed as its claws met the wound. It then turned its gaze back toward Oscar and narrowed its eyes.

Oscar swallowed his fear just as the first flash of lightning split the sky. He then walked up to the dragon despite the growl either it or the thunder made. "I'm not going to hurt you." he told her in the calming voice he used when trying to calm down Big Bertha, his aunt's milking cow, when she was about to give birth and her temper reached fever-pitch. Except, he wasn't calming down a pregnant cow, at least cows didn't have teeth like daggers. He reached out his hand. "It's okay. You can trust me."

"Oh, _can_ I?" Oscar nearly jumped out of his pants the moment the dragon spoke.

Oscar made note about the dragon, mainly in its growling, thundering voice.

"So, you're a girl dragon aren't you?" he asked.

The dragon scoffed, "Yes, I'm a dragoness. How very perceptive of you, human. Now, explain to me why I should trust you?"

Oscar tilted his head in curiosity, "Um, why wouldn't you?"

The dragoness gave out a low growl, "Because I find it very suspicious that a human boy would approach me moments after I crash onto the ground with a wounded wing; barely able to fly and so worn out I would be lucky enough to muster even so much as a _spark_. The only reason you would do so would be to kill me."

Oscar frowned, "Okay, why would I want to kill a beast that's been protecting the people of Remnant from the Grimm for centuries?"

The dragoness let out a hiss knowing the human before her had a good point, "Forgive me, I've heard stories of how early humans and Faunus would hunt dragons out of fear or sport before the Grimm appeared."

Oscar nodded only to notice the rain started picking up. "Umm, how about we get you inside, miss- uh... do you have a name?"

"What?" the dragoness asked.

"A name, y'know a name? Who you are? Like for starters, my name is Oscar Pines. What's yours?"

The she-dragon hissed and closed her eyes for a bit as if hesitating to reveal her identity. When she opened them again, she let out a sigh (or at least something close to one), "My name is Ruby," she replied, "Ruby Rose. Dragoness of Beacon, Daughter of Taiyang Xiao Long and the late Summer Rose, step-daughter of Raven Branwen, half-sister of Yang Xiao Long, niece of Qrow Branwen, and Leader of RWBY."

 _Ruby Rose_. Oscar thought, _how very fitting_.

"Okay, Ruby," Oscar spoke up, "how about we get you inside. I think I can squeeze you into the barn, though of course I'd have to explain you to Aunt Maple-"

Ruby growled in anger and she shot her face inches from Oscar's to the point he could see his own reflection in her silvery eyes, "Do I _look_ like a beast of burden!? I am a dragoness, not some lowly farm animal! I _refuse_ to step claw into something as demeaning as a barn!"

Oscar sighed, "Look, I can't leave you out here in the rain. For one thing, I don't want you freaking out my aunt because then she'll tell my mom and _she'll_ freak out. Second, you might get sick and who knows what that storm will do to that wing of yours." He even pointed at the wing in question to emphasize his point.

Ruby narrowed her eyes and looked at her injured wing. She then looked at him with what could only be described as a smirk. "Or, I could do this, even if it means sapping the last of my strength." She then stood to her full height and folded both her wings like a cloak. "Oscar, wasn't it? Could you carry me inside when this is over?"

Before Oscar could say anything regarding carrying a dragon that probably had the same weight as his barn as she did its size, Ruby's body began to glow brighter than the sun, so much Oscar had to avert his eyes. When the light finally died down, he got a good glimpse of a body collapsing into the crater. It was Ruby, but instead of being a dragon, she was now a girl possibly his own age. She had pale skin which contrasted with the night-black/wine red scales had in her dragon form. Her face was topped with neck-length, black hair which gradated into red tips. On top of that, she was naked as a newborn baby with the only article of clothing being the same pendant she wore in dragon from only much smaller. Blushing, Oscar quickly took off his red rain hood and wrapped it around her as he helped her to her toes only for her to stumble. She moaned, though it might have been because she was tired and not out of pain. She looked at him from the corner of her barely open eyes; still silver in color and the only sign of her still intact from being a dragon. "Maybe this'll make things a bit easier for you." she whispered softly, her voice now higher-pitched without the growl before she closed them again.

Oscar huffed and puffed as he got Ruby into a bridal carrying position, her dangling, bare feet dripping with rain as it began falling in sheets. He noted that she was a bit heavy, but not too much. He then rushed toward his aunt's house. "Aunt Maple," he called out over the torrential rains, "get the door!" He then looked down at the unconscious form of Ruby and swallowed. _Aunt Maple is gonna_ love _this._ he thought sarcastically. The door opened as he carried Ruby into the house. Inside, the TV was on as the weatherman explained how the storm in question had managed to leave thousands of people without power and caused plenty of damage to trees and houses. "Um," Maple started, "who is that?" Oscar was about to reply until the lights and TV turned off, leaving its occupants in the dark.

"Oh, Oum-Dammit." Maple cursed under her breath. "Oscar, wait right here, I'm going to get the generator up and running." Oscar heard his aunt grab a flashlight, made sure it was working correctly, and headed to the basement with a large canister of powdered Electricity Dust in hand. This allowed him to place Ruby on the couch, propping her head up with a pillow. There was the muffled sound of pouring Dust and a running motor before the electricity in the house came back on. He then heard Maple coming back up the stairs, the canister half empty in her right hand.

"Well, that ought to get us through the rest of the day until the power company comes around." she commented, noticing the girl on the couch. "Now then," Maple started, "care to explain that girl?" Oscar sighed, "How about over dinner."

"Oscar. Jameson. Pines," Maple started slowly as the two ate their Fire Dust cooked lasagna dinner, "let me see if I've got this straight: you're telling me, this girl is actually a dragon that fell from the sky with an injured wing, took on a human form, and is named Ruby Rose?"

"...Yes." Oscar replied as he scooped up a nibble of his comfort food and put it in his mouth.

"And you're not making this up?"

Oscar sighed, "No, Maple, I'm not making this up."

Maple sighed, "So, how long is she going to stay?"

The farm boy shrugged, "I really don't know, until her wing's healed, I guess."

Maple nodded before standing from the table and walking over to the kitchen counter, a notepad in one hand and a pen in another.

"What are you doing?" Oscar asked.

"Writing down possible ways I can explain this to your mother when she calls to check up on you," Maple replied, "so far, I've got 'dragon crashlanding on our farm and transformed into a naked girl carried by your son in the house during a storm'."

After dinner, Maple and Oscar gathered up various items which they placed in the house's guest room; clothes, extra blankets, and more before Oscar carried up Ruby onto the bed, still wrapped in his rain cloak and set her down, tucking the blanket over her.

"Do you think I can sleep with her tonight?" Oscar asked. This earned a stern frown from his aunt, which turned her from youthful aunt, to stern mother-figure.

"It's just to make sure she's okay." the farm boy exclaimed.

"She'll be fine, Oscar," Maple told her nephew, "she just needs some sleep is all. Though, we can check up on her every hour just in case she isn't."

Oscar nodded and cast one last look at the sleeping dragon-turned-girl before closing the door, unaware she was watching the door closed through her barely open eyes which finally shut and let sleep take over.


	2. Beacon

**Beacon**

"ARE THEY OUT OF THEIR MINDS!?" Yang roared as she stomped her talons onto the dorm floor, startling Weiss but earning only an annoyed glance from Blake who was currently reading her latest tome. The golden dragoness was seething at the decision of the council and she need to take her anger out on something as a blazing, yellow Aura emanated from her.

"Yang, calm down." Weiss told her. Yang shifted her fiery, red eyes toward the ice-white, scar-faced dragoness and narrowed them

"Calm down? _You actually want me to calm down_!? My little sister, _our team leader_ could still be alive and in need of rescue despite what the Council thinks, and I should calm down!?"

"As a matter of fact," Weiss calmly stated, not even once flinching at the hot-headed dragoness' rage, "yes. Getting angry about it isn't going to make things better and it just makes you look like a hatchling throwing a tantrum."

Yang frowned but sighed. Her fiery Aura died down and her red eyes reverted into a royal purple. "I just think it's stupid. Ruby could still be alive and the Council voted against even a search mission for her?"

Weiss sighed, "Look, Yang, I'm concerned about Ruby too, but you heard the Council, you saw her fall, you saw her wing get ripped by that Grimmhilde. For all we know, she could be dead."

Yang gave Weiss a half-angry, half-saddened look. "But what if she's _not_?"

"We don't know for certain if she's still alive either." Blake spoke as she turned the pages with her talons.

"Then we should at least go looking for her!" Yang seethed, spreading out her wings in emphasis.

Blake rose her cat-like head from her book and sighed, "Why do I get the feeling you're going to go behind the backs of the Council? You do realize my parents, your parents, _and_ Weiss's parents have seats in it, right?"

Yang turned to the serpentine, black and purple dragoness. "So?"

Blake sighed again, "If we end up grounded until we're fifty-four moons old, I'm blaming you."

"So, it'll be worth the risk." Yang snapped.

"Worth what risk?"

Almost out of nowhere, there appeared a pink and orange-horned dragoness with big, energetic, blue eyes and feathered wings. Around her neck was a pendant shaped like a war hammer with a lightning bolt striking through it. This dragoness was named Nora Valkyrie, a member of Team JNPR.

"Ummm, nothing." Weiss lied, forgetting how terrible she was at that. Nora's blunt face got inches away from white dragoness' own and her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Noooope, you're talking about a risk. What is it?" she asked. Weiss decided to change the subject, "I've got a question for you, where did you come from? I thought you and JNPR were taking care of a Goliath problem in Vacuo."

Nora grinned, "Yeeee-up! And I even got a souvenir tusk!" She even held up said tusk in her talons.

Blake rose a scaly brow, "Don't Goliath tusks dissolve an hour after the rest of the body?"

True enough, the tusk seemed to transform into black mist and dissolved out of Nora's claws like a mirage. The dragoness just shrugged, "Eh, easy come and easy go as they always say. Oh, before I forget, where's Ruby? We haven't seen here since we got here, we assumed she was with you girls."

"Yeah, that's what I wanna know." piped up Jaune Arc, a pearl-white, blue-eyed, gold-crested dragon and JNPR's leader as he entered the room, followed by Pyrrha Nikos, a crimson dragoness whose wings doubled as her front-limbs with soft green eyes, golden horns, and green markings on her face, and Lie Ren, a serpentine dragon with black scales that shined green when in the right lighting, and a mane of black fur tipped with lavender.

Yang's antlered head lowered to the floor and she avoided eye contact with her fellow Beacon dragons.

"We fought a Grimmhilde over the skies of Mistral," Blake explained, "during the fight, Ruby got her wing torn and she fell to the ground. It's been pretty hard for us, even for Yang."

"Oh, no!" Pyrrha gasped as she wrapped her wing around Yang for comfort.

"It's not just that," Yang growled, shrugging off Pyrrha's wing, "we tried getting the Council to go back as a search and rescue mission but they told us no. For all we know we just left her behind."

"Or dead." Weiss piped up. This was answered by a glare from Yang which shut her up almost instantly.

"Anyway, Yang wants to go behind their backs and look for Ruby. That's where the risks come in." Blake finished.

"Well, what am I supposed to do? Just sit around and do nothing!?"

At that moment, Weiss had an idea. "Why don't we go talk with them again?"

"Oh, and get the same response!?" Yang sneered, "Yeah, no thanks."

"It'd be better than going Cinder." Weiss sneered back.

Yang narrowed her eyes but agreed. 'Going Cinder' was a phrase describing a dragon or dragoness going rogue years after a certain dragoness named Cinder Fall who turned her back on everything the dragons stood for.

"Okay, fine, Weiss," the young Xiao Long groaned, "let's go talk with them."

"We'll come along too." Jaune exclaimed.

Weiss rose a brow to the leader of JNPR. "Jaune, that's really not nece-"

"Um, yes, it kind of is." Jaune interrupted, "Look, Ruby's our friend too and we never leave friends behind."

"What about Cardin that one time in the Forever Fall Forest?" Ren asked.

Jaune frowned, "Okay, to be fair, he _was_ being stubborn and he thought he could make it back to Beacon on his own."

"What about Neptune at the swimming pool?" asked Blake.

"I didn't know Neptune was hydrophobic!"

"And-" Weiss started up.

" _Aside from those._ " Jaune interrupted with the flaring of his wings, "We never leave friends behind."

*Council Room*

Ozpin looked over a holographic map of Remnant as Jacques' eldest, Winter, went over recent Grimm activity. "As you can see, Ozpin," she stated, pointing a talon at the continents of Vale and Mistral, "we have borne witness to more numerous appearances of Grimm in ten years. Even with the aide of the White Fang, we may be facing the biggest outbreak of these beasts. I think it's time we started working with the humans and not just Adam Taurus and his mercenaries."

"It's not time yet," called out Taiyang, a large, serpentine dragon with golden scales just like his daughter Yang, "the humans will probably see us as enemies as they did once before thousands of years ago. Especially after what _she_ did."

"I refuse to stay a secret protector." replied a gigantic, bulky dragon named Ghira Belladonna, Blake's father.

"I have to agree with Xiao Long, sadly, Ghira." spoke up the elegant yet deadly looking dragon that was Weiss and Winter's father, Jacques.

Ghira growled and slammed his talons onto the floor and had to have his mate, Kali, wrap her serpentine body around his to calm him down.

"Um, High Council?"

The eyes of the Council turned to see the remaining members of RWBY as well as Team JNPR. Taiyang sighed, having a good idea of what Yang was going to talk about.

"Yang, we've discussed this. We are not sending you or the rest of your team out to look for Ruby. It pains me as much as it does you, but there's a chance Ruby is dead." he told her calmly.

Yang twitched inwardly but retained a calm posture. Just then, Weiss stepped forward. "Actually, Councillors, that's not what we're requesting at all."

"Oh?" Jacques asked, his scaled brows rising in curiosity, "Then what _is_ your request?"

"If I seem to recall, the Grimm my team and I encountered was a Grimmhilde. And if memory serves correctly, Grimmhildes are notorious Grimm breeders. I'm requesting a search and destroy mission in the off-chance of a possible infestation in Mistral. With your permission of course."

The Council began to speak among each other, Weiss almost sweating in anxiety for their answer. Just then...

"Ah, let them go already. What kinda harm will that bring?"

WBY, JNPR, and the Council turned their heads to see a rather disheveled, black dragon with piercing red eyes and a pair of ragged wings. By the slight slur in his voice, this dragon had been drinking. _Heavily_.

"Qrow," Raven piped up at the sight of her brother, "how nice of you to join us. I would've asked you to come sober, but that is easier said than done."

"I had important things to take care of, Rave," Qrow sneered back, "'sides, I was just dropping by what with the possible death of one of my nieces. Now, like I was sayin', let 'em go already. The last thing you bigwigs want is to have an infestation of Grimm in Mistral, right?"

This time, it was Ozpin's turn to speak up. "Very well, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long, Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos, and Lie Ren, you have permission to scout out and destroy any possible Grimm activity in Mistral, but _only_ that and nothing else. Am I understood?"

The seven dragons bowed in response, "Yes, Headmaster." they all replied. "Good, now go get some rest. It will be a long flight to Mistral." Ozpin told them. As they left the room with a bow, Weiss gave Yang a smug grin, "See," she whispered, "it's about hitting two Nevermores with one fireball; we get to look for Ruby _and_ hunt for Grimm at the same time."

Yang sighed, "Yeah, okay, that was a smart move, Ice Queen. I'll give you that. Well, that and we had my uncle to vouch for us." One thought went through her mind, _We're coming for ya, sis_.

Unbeknowest to them, however, Glynda Goodwitch, a dragoness with angelic white scales and black and purple wings resembling flames, strode up to Ozpin. "You didn't fall for that for one second, did you?" she asked.

Ozpin chuckled, "Not in the slightest. Though, Miss Schnee did have a point about the Grimmhilde."

Glynda gave her friend and superior a confused look, "Then why let them go in the first place?"

The Headmaster of Beacon responded with a knowing smile across his scaled face, "Because team-mates never leave their own behind, and are willing to fly straight into the fires of Hell just to get them back."


	3. Dragoness on the Farm

**Dragoness on the Farm**

 _The Grimmhilde was smarter than what they gave it credit for, she had to admit, even for one that had only lived for two weeks. It managed to seek shelter in the nearest thunderhead. Inside the storm cloud, the four dragons circled the wyvern-like Grimm. The beast let out a piercing shriek, baring fangs extending all the way down to its neck, the claws on its tail splayed out to grab its attackers, and black ooze dripping from its body like sweat._

 _She could see their previous attacks had done some damage to it such as two eyes on the left side of its skull having been incinerated and holes in its wine-red wings. However, none of these wounds were enough to be deemed fatal. Weiss's eyes flashed from a pale blue to a dark blue, and, opening her mouth, she shot a bolt of Ice magic from a glyph that appeared in front of her face which clung to one of the Grimmhilde's legs, weighing it down as Yang, having gone berserk, swooped toward the Grimmhilde and loosed a blast of fire at its skull, effectively burning all three eyes on its right skull, leaving it mostly blind._

 _Blake shot towards the Grimm, flying straight and true like a reptilian ribbon. The Grimm tried to grab at her with its tail claw but to no avail as she dodged it with her Shadows. However, she was just a decoy as Ruby shot down towards it, using her own Speed Semblance to gather momentum. She made a cartwheel mid dive-bomb and, using the blade on her tail, made her mark on the beast's left wing, slicing it off and sending a spurt of black, mist-like ichor into the sky. With a scream of pain, the Grimmhilde began to fall like a stone._

 _Ruby smirked as she watched the high-level Grimm drop. However, over the roaring thunder, she couldn't hear her teammates screaming to her... until she noticed too late that the Grimmhilde's tail whipped up and its largest claw made contact with her wing. Ruby screamed in pain equal to the soon-to-be-dead Grimm and she too fell with it. She could hear the panicked, tear-ridden voice of Yang as she fell._

 _" **RUUUUBYYYYYYY**!"_

Ruby's eyes shot open as she shot up with a sharp gasp. She looked around, her breath shallow and ragged. She noticed she was in a wooden room, with only the bed she lay on, a mirror, and a window breaking up the drab decor. She then sighed in relief. "It was just a dream, Ruby." Suddenly, she gasped in shock. Where was the growl in her voice? She then looked down and noticed her hand... her pale, non-armored, five fingered, _human_ hand. Just then, it all started coming back to her. _I really_ did _fall from the sky._ she thought. She pulled back the blankets and lowered her left foot onto the wood... only to softly yelp in shock and pull it back as soon as her bare human toes touched the wood.

 _Okay,_ Ruby told herself, _you can do this, Ruby. It's just a cold floor. Just take it slow._ She lowered her left foot onto the floor again, toes first and then slowly lowered it onto the floor boards. Next came her right foot and she did it the same fashion as her left. She then pulled herself out of the bed and looked around at her surroundings. Even though she had just stepped out of the bed, she still felt like there was a blanket wrapped around her. Ruby walked by the mirror and saw the reason why... and frowned as soon as she saw it.

She was wearing a light red nightgown with what looked like pink roses knitted into it that came all the way down to her ankles that the humans of the house must have put on her. Ruby was never one for wearing human clothes as much as she was dragon clothes. At least the clothes used by dragons whenever they disguised themselves felt comfortable and could disappear and reappear seamlessly every time they transformed. Wearing non-dragon clothes might as well as been the same as having a second layer of skin. There was just something... _off_ about it. Ruby twirled herself around as she investigated herself. Just then, she heard a knock on the door.

"Hey, um, Ruby? It's me, Oscar, can I come in?"

"I suppose so."

The door opened up and she was greeted with the sight of Oscar as he walked into the room, dressed in the same dirty white shirt, brown pants, orange suspenders, and muddied work boots he wore when they first met.

"So, um, how's that nightgown fitting you? It kinda belonged to my mom when she and my Aunt lived together with my grandparents before they died and she moved out, and you can keep it if you want."

Ruby looked at the nightgown and examined it. "It's... not that bad, human attire aside."

"Well, it's the least I can do." Oscar replied scratching the back of his head. He then noticed Ruby's face was now inches from his as she scrunched her face up; not in an angry fashion, it looked more like she was investigating something about him. "Umm, is something wrong?" he asked. "Your eyes."

"My eyes?"

"Why do they look like that, green on the outside yet yellow in the center?"

"Oh, those," Oscar spoke up, "I just have heterochromia, that's all."

"Interesting."

There was an uncomfortable pause between the two... broken by a low gurgling noise coming from Ruby.

"Umm, that's kinda why I came up here; my aunt's cooking breakfast. You want some?"

"That would be nice," Ruby replied, "thank you."

Maple was currently setting the table for breakfast just as the toast sprung up. She hummed to herself as she set one cooked piece of bread on each of the three plates that currently housed a fried egg and two pieces of sizzling bacon, and got a chair ready for their rather cute guest. She then set a napkin and pair of silverware next to the fine china plates just as her nephew and house guest came downstairs.

"Smells great, Aunt Maple." Oscar complimented her as he pulled out the chair for Ruby. The girl took her seat on the far end of the circular, wooden table as Oscar slid the chair back in before taking his seat.

It was here, Ruby got a good look at Oscar's aunt. She was rather attractive... for a human. If it weren't for the wrinkles underneath her eyes or the bits of gray speckled among her short brown hair, she might as well have been his older sister. She had the same tanned skin as her nephew but her eyes were mostly hazel as opposed to Oscar's hazel/yellow and green ones.

"Well, let's see if it tastes as great as it smells." she smiled. With that, Oscar and Maple began eating... only to notice Ruby staring at her food suspiciously. "It'h naw poithoned." Oscar told her with a mouthful of egg, earning him a scolding gaze from his aunt. He swallowed his food and continued eating.

Ruby picked up a piece of bacon and sniffed it. It didn't _smell_ poisoned... unless it was an odorless poison. However, the growling of her empty stomach got the better of her and she let her teeth fall on the sizzling strip of cooked pig meat. She let it fall apart in her mouth as her new teeth ground it up... then she took another bite until it was at the point, crisped meat crumbs began falling from her mouth before she outright devoured the second strip. She then got to work on her egg and dug her teeth into it. However, she then noticed Oscar and Maple staring at her in shock. Ruby blushed and set the egg (which now had a rather good bite taken out of it) before cutting what was left of it with her fork and knife, embarrassed she had let hunger get the better of basic table etiquette.

"Oscar," Maple told her nephew, "some time this week, _not right now_ , but when it dries up, we're gonna need to get some chores done."

"Alright, Aunt Maple." Oscar replied. He turned his eyes toward Ruby who was currently snarfing down her piece of toast.

"Hey, um, Ruby," he asked, "since your wing probably won't heal for a while, you want to stick around and help? We could use an extra farm hand."

Ruby swallowed her cooked bread and thought for a moment. "Well, when you put it like that... I could help. I don't have anything else to do aside from waiting from my wing to patch itself up."

Oscar smiled as he started on his own piece of toast... unaware the sparks of something greater were beginning to develop.


	4. Torch and Burn

Torch and Burn

*Patch*

Roman Torchwick glared down at the ten black-suited underlings with his piercing, green eye left uncovered by his pumpkin orange bangs in disappointment and anger.

"Pop quiz for ya, boys;" he spoke up as he paced back and forth, tapping the ground with the tip of his cane Melodic Cudgel, "how much Red Dust did I ask you to bring me?"

The goons just stood around hesitating as their boss blew a puff of smoke from his cigar. "Come on, show of hands. Don't be shy now. I want _you_ to answer this question for once. Oum knows how many times I have for you."

One of the men, a man cradling what seemed to be a broken arm rose his free arm very slowly.

"Yes," Roman exclaimed, pointing Cudgel at the man who paused and gulped, "you with the broken arm."

"Uumm, twenty tons of it, Boss." he stammered.

"And how much do I see in front of me?"

"T-t-ten pounds, Boss."

"TEN POUNDS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" Roman shouted, taking off his black and red-trimmed bowler hat and waving it in faux celebration, "Ten pounds out of twenty tons. Now, care to tell me and the rest of the class why that is?"

"It's not our fault, Sir!" exclaimed one goon who had one of his red shaded glasses missing a lens.

"Oh?" Roman spoke up, "Then pray tell _why_ you came up so short-handed?"

"We were ambushed by the White Fang. We had to escape with what we could carry!"

Roman just frowned, "So, let me get this straight; despite all the guns you carried, you saw fit to run away from a bunch of Faunus mercs. Are you men or chickens!?"

While this was going on, two bystanders watched down from the rafters. One was a pale-skinned, purple-eyed young man almost in his twenties wearing a slate gray/pitch black twin-toned jacket with the symbol of a winged boot on its back. He had a head of silvery-gray, slick-backed hair. He had a pair of prosthetic legs, courtesy of his monster of a father which he killed in cold blood. His name was Mercury Black.

"Yo, Em." he spoke up to his partner-in-crime, Emerald Sustrai, a young woman with tanned skin, red eyes, mint-green hair cut into neck-length with two, trailing locks, an olive-green crop-top with a white top with an emerald-shaped Emblem on its back as well, a pair of olive-green bridal gauntlets, white pants with olive-green coverings which came down to her ankles, and a pair of high-heels.

"Hmm?"

"Torchwick's already pissed and it's not even lunch time yet." Mercury chuckled.

Emerald scoffed, "He's not pissed. He hasn't even whipped out the ca-"

"How about I get myself some _replacements_ to scrape what's left of ya off the walls!?" Torchwick shouted, the sound of him cocking Melodic Cudgel into its hand-cannon mode heard loud and clear.

"Nevermind, yeah, he's pissed."

Mercury smirked. He turned his attention to Torchwick down below, "Hey, Roman! How about you start usin' that thing against the people who really deserve it? It's not like our boss doesn't have deadlines or anything! Unless you think you can gather the Dust needed all by yourself!"

Roman looked up to Mercury and Emerald with a scowl, "Oh, on the contrary, kiddies," he replied, "it's all in the principle; I get rid of the numbskulls and give their jobs to those who can carry it out!"

"Whatever you say, Torchy," Mercury shrugged, "don't come cryin' to me or Emmy when things go south fer ya!"

While this was going on, a third figure watched the conversation. It was young woman dressed up in a white jacket with a pink interior, brown gloves, and brown and white heeled boots. On her neck, she wore a silver _tomoe_ pendant. She had long white, pink, and brown patterned hair as well as one pink eye and one brown eye which she rolled. Her name was Neo Politan and she was Roman's right hand-gal. She was listening to Mercury and Roman's conversation and cast Mercury a disapproving glance but otherwise did nothing. She wasn't really one for speaking anyway. Just then, she noticed something in the darkest recesses of the warehouse... something alive.

She took out her furled umbrella and tapped it against the metal rafters, signalling to Emerald, Mercury, and Roman. The criminal looked up to see his enforcer and sighed.

 _Oh, great,_ he thought, _she's here. Well, time to get rid of the Peanut Gallery._

"Good news, boys!" Roman announced, "I've decided to send ya home! Just make sure to turn off the lights and lock the doors. As for me, don't worry, I've just got some things to take care of!"

The goons just stood confused but shrugged and headed out. At the same time, Neo, Emerald, and Mercury exited through the sky-lights, with only Emerald staying behind. "Good luck, I guess." she told him before she followed the other two out.

"Thank you _so_ much for the vote of confidence." Roman scowled as he took a puff of smoke from his cigar. As soon as he was left alone, the lights turned off, leaving him in the dark, the only source of light coming from the fading embers of his cigar. He wasn't alone for much longer. The first sign came from a slight glow and the sound of a large animal growling.

Roman sighed, not even turning around, "Y'know, you might have been able to scare me the first nine times, but after the tenth, it's kinda getting old."

"I've looked at your inventory, Roman," his visitor spoke in a slithering, growl-laced, feminine voice, "suffice to say, I am far from impressed. Care to explain?"

"Tell ya what, how about you take a form where I can see you eye-to-eye," Roman replied, stomping out his cigar, " _then_ we'll talk."

There was a brief flash of light which illuminated the warehouse. It was then followed up by the sound of heels clicking against the floor. With the sound of a fire starting up, Roman turned and came face-to-face with his associate. It was a woman. She had pale white skin which clashed with the long, ash-black hair draping over her amber eyes. She wore a crimson mini-dress decorated with intricate, yellow patterns which seemed to glow as she conjured a ball of fire in her red-nailed hand while a blue feather accessory rested on her right hip, giving her the illusion she was wearing a wildfire. She wore a pair of obsidian heeled shoes which made a glassy click each time she took a step. A silver pendant bearing a diamond-shaped Emblem dangled from her neck. She had a certain beauty to her... the beauty one would find in a viper ready to strike.

"As you were about to say, Roman?" she asked in a slithering, seductive voice.

"Well, turns out we hit a bit of a snag. And by 'we' I mean my boys, and by 'snag' I mean the White Fang." Roman replied, "Long story short, they chickened out instead of, well, y'know, _shooting_ them and we came up ten pounds instead of twenty tons."

The woman narrowed her eyes (or at least the one not hidden by her hair). "I find this very unfair blaming your underlings for your failure, Torchwick," she told him, circling him like a wolf, "after all, they're only under your payroll. That doesn't excuse you from coming up short yourself." Her calm voice took on a rather subtle edge, "And I can only tolerate delays for so long."

"Oh, don't worry," Roman replied, "we'll get the Dust needed. You just need to be pati- _urk_!"

Before he could even react, the woman grabbed Roman by his coat-neck and slammed him violently against a wall. The fire in her hand brighter than earlier, giving her a malevolent glow.

"I've _been_ patient, Torchwick," she sneered, her voice still icily calm despite her fiery gaze, "but, the thing about patience... it wears thin until it disappears entirely. And right now, mine is nearly empty. So, here's how it's going to go; you get the Fire Dust needed, no delays, no setbacks, and anything perceived as an obstacle needs to be removed by _any means necessary._ Do that, and the rewards you receive will be beyond any of your greatest dreams. _Don't_ , and I'll just have to find someone else who can get the job done and done right while you burn on a pyre of your own failure, both _figuratively_ ," she rose up her fire-holding hand, " _and_ literally."

She set him down gently and walked back. "So, do we have an understanding, Roman? Or do I need you to repeat everything I just said?"

Roman stood up and brushed himself off. "Crystal clear."

The woman chuckled as she pulled out a cigar from his coat, lit it with her fire and stuck it in his mouth, smirking as she did so. "I'm glad we have an understanding, Roman." she purred, extinguishing her flame and walking off, her heels clicking in the darkness. "But just remember," her voice echoed through the shadowed warehouse, " _no failures_."

Roman let out a puff of smoke. "Whatever you say," he groaned, "Cinder."


	5. Preparations

**Preparations**

*Beacon*

"Have I ever mentioned how much I _hate_ doing this?" Yang asked, standing in front of her dress screen, comically massive compared to it in her dragon form.

"I know you do, Yang," Weiss replied behind her dress screen, having already transformed into her disguise with only her silhouette visible behind it and her voice sounding strange without the growl present in all dragons when they spoke, "but remember, we're doing this for Ruby."

Yang sighed, "I know, but I just don't feel all that comfortable in human-"

"Or Faunus." Blake interrupted.

"I just don't feel all that comfortable in _disguise_ form for that long of a time." the golden dragoness groaned.

"Well, you know the rules, Yang," Pyrrha piped up as she was nearly done sliding up her left boot, "we have to remain secret from humans and Faunus alike, White Fang excluded, of course."

"Yeah," Yang sneered, "sorry for not wanting to live the rest of my life as a legend people tell their kids at bed time."

"It at least gives them hope." Pyrrha replied.

"You know what _else_ could give them hope?" Yang asked, "Seeing a dragon in the flesh!"

"Yang," Weiss called out, "quit arguing and just take on your disguise!"

Yang growled but realized she had no other choice. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she let the transformation take effect. She could feel a warmth from the skin underneath her scales, not too dissimilar to a pillow or blanket exposed to the Summer sun for a long time. She could feel herself shrink down. As she did, she felt her scales retract back into her skin. As she shrunk down even further, she could feel her paws gain an extra digit while her talons shrank down into finger and toe nails. Finally, her tail, wings, and antlers disappeared into her transforming body. None of this really hurt in the slightest, it was more of a tingling sensation with the only side effect of leaving her slightly groggy if she was at full strength despite metamorphosing into a different skeletal structure. She could feel her snout retract until finally she stood in a naked human form behind the dress screen with only her fireball-shaped pendant around her neck. She opened her eyes and looked down upon her fair skinned features. She turned around and picked out her disguise clothes. After staring at the bundle of clothes in front of her, she picked up a yellow crop top bearing the same Emblem as her pendant on its left side, a tan outer jacket, a purple bandanna which she wrapped around her left knee, orange knee-socks (the one on the right she had lowered slightly compared to her left), a brown belt with a pleated piece of material bearing her Emblem but in gold with a piece of white cloth hanging above her right leg, a pair of black fingerless gloves, and a bright orange scarf which she whipped around her.

She looked at herself in the mirror and was greeted by her human face. She had purple eyes, much like in her dragon form but only with rounded pupils instead of slitted, reptilian ones and her mane had now become a flowing river of golden hair. _At least I look good._ she thought. Just then she looked down to her chest and... noticed a couple of things. A couple of rather _big_ things. _No big deal,_ she mentally told herself, _I'll just try to avoid any wandering eyes._

As she stepped out, she was greeted by the sight of her fellow dragons and dragonesses in their disguise forms. The first was Weiss who had taken on the form of a pale-skinned young woman with silver-white hair held back in a white ponytail held up by a snowflake-shaped pin. She wore a strapless, thigh-length dress that graduated from a snow-white to a pale blue at the hem, a red collared interior, and a piece of black lace on her neck line and the hem of her dress shaped like snowflakes completed by a snow-white ribbon she wore on her waist. She wore a bolero with sleeves that shared the same color scheme as her dress. On her feet rested high-heeled boots that darkened from white, to turquoise, to blue with a white toe. On her ears were silver, apple-shaped earrings. The only things she kept from her dragon form were her pale blue eyes, snowflake Emblem pendant, and the crooked scar she gained from fighting an Arma Gigas on her left eye.

Pyrrha's human form was a polar opposite. While Weiss had pale skin, Pyrrha's was an olive tan. While Weiss's hair was a snow white, hers was a fiery red. Weiss's dress gave off the appearance of delicate beauty, Pyrrha was beautiful but at the same time looked formidable. Like Weiss, she wore her hair in a ponytail held in place by a tiara with dangling, golden chains adorned with a pair of lone emeralds. She wore a laced up, bronze breast plate, a bronze neck-brace with an emerald in its center. A piece of red cloth reaching down to her right leg was held in place by a brown belt and she wore armored, bronze leggings which ended in ankle-high, heeled shoes. On her right arm, she wore a brown sleeve while her left arm had that as well, but with a bronze, wave-patterned ring, and a gauntlet. On her neck and her belt, she wore her spear-shaped Emblem. Like Weiss, she retained her eye color.

Nora had taken on the form of a fair-skinned, slightly short young woman. She had a head of short, orange hair which spiked up in the back. She wore a white, black, silver, red, and blue shirt/coat combo with a heart-shaped cut above her breasts and a black, flaring collar. A short, pink skirt with a bluish-gray ribbon on the back hung above her legs while a pair of white/pink laced shoes rested on her feet. She had a pair of fingerless, pink gloves. She still retained her bright blue eyes and the Emblem necklace.

Ren's human form had long black hair, the rest of it hanging back as a ponytail with a streak of magenta on the left side of his face. He had a dark green, diagonally cut tail coat that was red on the inside and had a mixture of black and gold patterns as well as two magenta cuffs. He wore a pair of white pants and black shoes. He kept his magenta eyes as well as his lotus flower Emblem pendant.

Jaune had taken on the form of a tall young man with messy blond hair. He wore a pair of blue jeans with a tear in the left knee, black boots, orange sleeves, fingerless, brown gloves, an orange interiored black hoodie with the Pumpkin Pete cereal bunny just barely hidden by a diamond shaped breast plate. On his shoulders rested two armored shoulders. His Emblem, which resembled two downward-pointing crescent moons with one smaller on the bottom and one larger on top stacked on one another and his blue eyes were all that carried over from his dragon form.

Finally, there was Blake who had opted to take on a Faunus disguise, as evidenced by the pair of cat ears sticking out of her head. She had long, black hair, purple eye-shadow that resembled the purple scales around her eyes in dragon form, and fair skin. She wore a black-buttoned, coat-tailed vest with a single silver button in front. Underneath, was a white, sleeveless crop-top with a high neck. She wore a pair of white shorts and stockings which gradated from black to lavender with her belladonna-shaped Emblem visible in white on both thighs. She wore a pair of black, low-heeled boots. On her left arm was a black sleeve with a silver cuff while her right was left bare minus the black ribbons on both wrists. Like the others, the only thing she kept in tact were her amber eyes (going so far as to keep them slitted like a cat's) and her pendant. However, she was also in the middle of tying on a black bow onto her head, something which caught the confused attention of Weiss.

"Is the bow _really_ necessary?" she asked.

"You got a problem with bows?" Blake deadpanned.

"No, I just think it's a bit too much."

"Well, _I_ think bows are cute."

Weiss shrugged, "Suit yourself I guess."

With that, JNPR and what was left of RWBY went to get their weapons. Seven lockers appeared from beneath the floor, each bearing the Emblem of their respective user. Yang pulled out her weapon; a pair of gold and black-striped gauntlets which also doubled as shotguns called Ember Celica. She slipped them on over her gloves and practiced with them, jabbing the air and firing off shots. Weiss pulled out her own weapon called Myrtenaster which resembled a silver rapier with intricate black patterns on its four prongs. It had a chamber which she filled with six vials of Dust like it was a revolver gun. Pyrrha acquired her weapons, the first being a javelin colored after her attire called Milo which she shifted into its Xiphon sword mode and its rifle mode before switching it back to sword mode, and the other being Akouo, a bronze Dyplion shield with sharpened sections. Ren was currently practicing his weapon Storm Flower, which resembled a pair of green automatic pistols with two sickle-shaped blades vertically beneath the barrels. Blake had pulled out her weapon, a black-bladed pistol/katana/cleaver called Gambol Shroud which was attached to a magnetized strip of metal. Jaune practiced with his weapon, Crocea Mors, a sword and shield combo handed down to him by his great-great-grandfather with the shield acting as either a sheath or could be used to upgrade his sword into a two-hander. Nora currently swung her war hammer/grenade launcher Magnhild. However, she was so caught up, she nearly hit Ren who managed to duck.

"Nora!" he cried out.

"Sorry, Renny!" Nora apologized, giving out a sheepish smile and scratching the back of her head, sheepishly.

"How about we put our weapons away for now." Pyrrha suggested.

"Sounds good." Ren spoke up. With that, their weapons glowed before disappearing into their pendants as ribbons of light. Just then, there was a barking noise, as a large, monochrome blur slammed into Yang and pinned her down. It was a black and white dire wolf with some gray highlighted fur, dark gray eyes, and a red collar with an Emblem resembling a vertical standing bone with two dots on its side. However, instead of attacking the dragoness-turned-girl, it was giving her slobbery kisses.

"Hey, Zwei!" Yang laughed as her wolf's tongue licked her face, covering her in canine saliva. Blake, however, was a bit unnerved by the wolf's appearance. She never was a fan of Ruby and Yang's pet dire wolf given to them on the former's fourteenth-mooned birthday, either in Faunus _or_ dragon form. "Umm, what is that _thing_ doing here?" she asked.

"Sending us off, by the looks of it." Yang replied, trying to suppress her giggles.

"Well, keep that... _creature_ away from me." Blake sneered.

"Aw, but he likes you."

"Not me."

Yang gave Blake a sly smirk. "Oh, Zwei~," she sing-songed, "why don't you give Auntie Blake a good-bye kiss."

Zwei's gaze shifted to Blake, his panting giving him the illusion of a happy smile as he stood up. Blake's eyes widened with panic. "Oh, no. No. No. No no no. _No_. Keep away from me, you big, slobbering monst- AH!"

Before she could do anything, Zwei pounced on her and started applying slimy tongue kisses on the dragoness-turned-Faunus, despite her dismayed protests. Just then she snapped up and barked, " _STOP!_ " That caused the dire wolf to pause... until he delivered one big, slimy lick to Blake's face. She glared at the wolf, her left eye twitching. "I. _Hate._ You." she snarled.

There was a whistle and Zwei instantly joined the side of Taiyang as he, Raven, Jacques, Willow, Ghira, Kali, and Winter appeared in the room, still in their dragon forms.

"I take it you boys and girls are ready?" Taiyang asked as he lightly stroked the top of the dire wolf's head with his talon, Zwei now the size of a puppy compared to him.

"All set and ready to go, Dad." Yang replied, "Just need to grab some provisions and we'll be heading off to Mistral."

"Weiss," Jacques asked his youngest daughter, "are you sure you want to do this?"

"It's what dragons are trained to do, Father." Weiss answered.

Jacques gave her a smile, "Just try to be safe out there, okay?"

Weiss smirked, "We'll be okay, Daddy. Can't say the same for any Grimm out there."

Willow chuckled, "That's my girl."

"Well," Yang spoke up, hoisting up a bag of rations onto her shoulder, "we've gotta be off. We've got half a day of flying ahead of us."

"Just try to stay out of sight in dragon form." Raven told her daughter.

"Will do, Mom." Yang replied.

With that, WBY and JNPR watched as the hatch opened, letting in roaring wind and early sunlight. Yang smirked and broke into a run, the rest following her not too far behind. As she leaped off into the open air, she shifted back into dragon form and spread her wings, letting the membranes catch the wind below and soared off, the others following suit except for Ren and Blake who slithered through the air despite their lack of wings.

Yang looked back as she saw the floating fortress that was Beacon disappear from sight. "Alright, boys and girls," she roared out, "it's Mistral or bust!"


	6. Dragon Farmhand

**Dragon Farmhand**

It had been a day and a half since Ruby crash landed on the farm of Maple Pines and her nephew Oscar. The ground had already greedily soaked up the rain from the squall and both aunt and nephew thought it best to get the farm chores done early and over with. Right now, Ruby was watching Maple spread seeds out for the chickens. She was dressed in farm attire; black overalls, a red top, and cumbersome black, steel-toed boots as she watched the young woman send chicken feed into the air to be snatched up by the clucking masses of poultry.

"Hey, Ruby!" Oscar called out to her.

"Hmmm?"

"You can help me with Big Bertha."

Ruby tilted her head in curiosity. "Ummm, who's Big Bertha?"

Oscar put his two fingers together and let out a whistle. There was a loud _moo_ and the clattering of a bell, as Maple's giant of a cow plodded from her stable, her yearling, Little Linda, not too far behind. The black and brown cow came to a stop and stared at the farm boy with baleful eyes.

"Ruby, this is Big Bertha," Oscar introduced the two, "Big Bertha, Ruby."

Bertha just mooed in response.

"Well, let's get this over with, Girl." Oscar told the cow as he pulled a bucket out and placed it underneath her udder.

Ruby grimaced at this. She liked to drink milk, yes, but she thought it would be best to not know where it came from. Oscar noticed her and gave her a reassuring smile. "It's not all that hard," he told her, "you just gotta make sure you don't splash it all over the place. Here, I'll go first."

With that, Oscar grabbed the upper and lower right tits of Bertha's udder and pulled them down, streams of raw milk squirting into the bucket. Ruby just stood in pure shock and disgust, wondering if she would ever drink milk again. "Here, now you try." Oscar told her as he moved.

Ruby just smiled sheepishly and waved her hands out in front of her. "No thank you, that's fine."

Oscar gave her a confused look, "Well, there's gotta be something for you to do." he told her as he looked around to give her a job. Ruby's eyes fell upon a field of wheat. "What about that?" she asked.

"Oh, that?" Oscar replied, "Well, we kinda need a scythe to do that and, we haven't really harvested wheat since our old scythe got stolen by some hoodlums a while back."

"Then you're lucky you have me." Ruby bragged.

"Um, how exactly-?" Oscar didn't have time to finish as the silver pendant on Ruby's neck glowed and a stream of energy flowed out of it, and into her hand. The light faded away, and in its place was a boxy, red object that rested in her hand. Oscar tilted his head in confusion, "Um, how is that supposed to hel-"

Once again, the farm boy was interrupted as the box extended into that of a red, mechanical-looking scythe with the sound of hydraulics and shifting gears.

"Say hello to Crescent Rose." Ruby announced proudly, "Now, sit back and watch."

Oscar shrugged and took a seat as he watched Ruby walk out onto the wheat fields, 'Crescent Rose' in hand. She took on a stance and swung... briefly losing balance as a result and falling face-first.

She groaned as Oscar sarcastically clapped. "Wow," he droned, "you sure you've got this?"

Ruby scowled as she regained her footing. "It's just these boots!" she exclaimed, "They're holding me down!"

She sank the blade of her scythe into the ground along with a wheat-basked and leaned down to unlace one of her boots. She yanked it off, wiggling her freed toes. She then unlaced the other boot and pulled it off. She gently placed the boots on the ground next to her as she stood up barefoot. Ruby pulled the scythe from the ground and got into a stance.

" _Now_ , sit back and watch." she told Oscar.

Oscar sat and watched... only to have his eyes nearly pop out of his skull as Ruby, with the sound of a rushing wind and a trail of what appeared to be rose petals, shot across a single row of wheat, sending it flying into the air. She zoomed back and collected it into the basket. She repeated this four times until the entire basket was filled to the brim with harvested wheat.

Oscar, impressed by this, whistled, "Gotta admit, that scythe of yours is pretty cool." he complimented.

Ruby smiled, "Thanks. It's also a customizable, high impact sniper rifle."

"Ummm... a _what_?"

"It's also a gun."

"Oh. One other question, how could you-"

"Go so fast? It's my Semblance."

"You're saying things but I'm not understanding them."

"* _Sigh_ *. Think of it as a super-power. Mine is the ability to go really, really fast."

Crescent Rose glowed again and then vanished within Ruby's pendant as she walked up and stood next to Oscar, the sunlight reflecting off her red tipped hair as she crossed her bare feet. "So, got any other chores you need help with?"

In a matter of three hours, all the work on the farm had been completed and, as a reward, Maple had given both youngsters a glass of milk, courtesy of Big Bertha (something Ruby was a bit hesitant to drink at first) and two platters of her chocolate chip cookies. Ruby picked one up and took a bite out of it. Just then, she paused mid-bite as something in her lit up like a spark. Instantly, she began shoveling three cookies into her mouth, chugging down her milk in one gulp, and then continuing to devour cookies like no tomorrow. However, just as she was about to eat her last cookie, Oscar and Maple noticed something forming out of the corner of her eye; a single, glistening tear. She took a nibble of the cookie, the tears beginning to grow bigger until they started streaming down the sides of her face. She took a slightly bigger bite and the tears came down even faster. With the last bite, she just sat there, sobbing as she wiped the tears from her face.

"Ruby? Is something wrong?" Oscar asked.

"I think I know." Maple commented, "Nostalgia."

"I-I'm sorry." Ruby sniffled, "I just don't know what came over me."

Oscar gave Ruby a big hug, one that surprised her before she hugged him back, letting her tears stain his shirt.

Ruby pushed herself gently out of the chair and stood up. "I'm feeling a little bit tired right now," she told Maple and Oscar, "I think I need to lay down for a bit."

With that, she walked barefoot out of the kitchen and up to her room. Once inside, she flopped face down on the bed and rolled onto her side, tears still in her eyes.

"Mom." she whispered as she allowed melancholy to rock her to sleep.


	7. Moonlit Conversation

**Moonlit Conversation**

There was a knock on Ruby's door. The young dragoness opened her tear-stained eye just a bit to see Oscar dressed in a patched together shirt and sweatpants for his pajamas. "Hey, just wanted to check on you." he told her.

Ruby sat up from her bed and tucked her legs in, sitting on her knees.

"So, um, are you feeling okay?" he asked.

"Um," Ruby mumbled, "yeah. I'm doing fine. Thank you."

"Good to know," Oscar replied, taking note of the shattered moon of Remnant from her window, "well, I'm gonna go get some sleep. I kinda need to help Aunt Maple turn that wheat into bread tomorrow."

"Um, okay," Ruby replied softly, "sure. Good night."

Oscar opened the door and began walking out. While he did this, Ruby bit her lip.

"Wait."

The farm boy turned to see Ruby's eyes wide, the moonlight reflecting off of them like silvery mirrors and glowing on the red tips of her hair.

"Can I talk to you for a little bit?" she asked softly.

"Okay," Oscar replied, taking a seat on Ruby's bed as she tucked her face behind her legs, twiddling her bare toes, and wrapping her hands around her knees, "what do you wanna talk about?"

The dragoness seemed to hesitate before she let out a sigh and started speaking, "Have you ever lost someone you cared so much about, you remember them even when you were young?"

Oscar's eyes widened as he looked down on the floor. "Actually," he replied in a soft, melancholic voice, "yes."

Ruby hummed, "I lost my mother."

Oscar listened to the dragoness' story.

"Her name was Summer Rose and she was my father's second wife and the leader of his team, STRQ. They married after the mother of my sister, Raven, left for some reason. She took the time to raise me and Yang correctly, even if Yang was only a half-daughter. She was pretty much Super Mom. She was kind, she was gentle, she was brave, she was the best mother I knew. I guess that's what really hurt the day my step-mom arrived to tell me, Yang, and our dad that she had died in combat against the Grimm and she would carry out her dying wish of taking care of us. I was only five-moons-old on that day. Raven may have been as great a mom as she could be, but I wasn't as close to her as I was my real mom."

At that moment, Ruby's eyes started to tear up again. As they did, Oscar looked at her briefly from the corner of his eye.

"I lost my father when I was young."

Ruby lifted her gaze slightly at his words.

"If anything, growing up in Kuroyuri, my dad was the closest to me. Closer than even my mom. While she would go out on official business, so to speak, my dad took the time to raise me. It's not like my mother was bad, far from it, she really tried but, her duties tended to get in the way. My dad was _always_ there for me, thick and through. I think the best days of my life would be the rare times my mom didn't need to do anything and it would just be me, her, and Dad."

"What happened?" Ruby asked.

Oscar's face scrunched up as he dug into the memory of that horrible, awful day. "One day, Kuroyuri came under attack by a legion of Grimm. They slaughtered everyone left and right. My dad told me to hide and not come out, no matter what I heard, no matter what, I had to stay where I was. The last time I saw him, it was him with his rifle. For six hours, I waited for him to come back. When someone did, it wasn't my dad. It was my mom. She and the White Fang had actually been tracking the Grimm that attacked our village. She told me Dad was one of the many who didn't make it and that she was too late to arrive in time."

Ruby could feel her tears starting to develop again.

"But, after the attack, my Mom told me it's okay to cry. It's okay to mourn the loss of the ones we love. However, when all is said and done, they're not really gone. They're always with you, in your heart, and in your memories. As long as you hold on to those memories, they'll always be near, even when you can't see them."

Ruby then lunged forward and wrapped him in a big hug. Oscar, at first caught off guard, hugged the dragoness girl back.

"Thanks, Oscar." she murmured.

"Anytime." Oscar replied with a smile.

"Um, Oscar?"

"Yeah?"

"You mind sleeping with me tonight?"

Oscar sighed, "Sure. I guess so."

He stood up, walked to the other side of Ruby's bed and wiggled himself into the blanket on his right side and Ruby on her left so that both were facing each other.

"Goodnight, Ruby." Oscar whispered.

"Goodnight, Oscar." Ruby replied.

*Somewhere above the Infinite Seas*

"Are we there yet?" Nora asked for what had to be the twentieth time.

"No." Weiss groaned.

"Oh, okay."

And just like that it was silent with the only noise being the flapping of wings and the slithering of windriding-

"Are we there _yet_?"

-For about twelve seconds.

"Nora, we've been flying for ten hours," Pyrrha explained, "we're two hours away from Mistral."

"Two hours and forty five minutes, since we had to take a rest stop." Ren pointed out.

"We've still got a good while to go before we reach Mistral." Jaune added.

"I knoooow," Nora moaned, "I'm just so _bored_."

"Well, you can find a way to entertain yourself," Weiss replied, "possibly one that does _not_ include stray showers over Vale."

"Hey, when a dragoness has ta go-"

"You should've gone before we left!"

"I didn't need to before, it just sorta happened!"

"Weiss, Nora," Blake spoke up, "do I have to separate you two?"

There was silence and the dragons continued flying. After several hours of flight, the dragons squinted their eyes as the sun began to peak above the horizon, its rays reflecting off their scales and setting the landscape of Anima aglow.

"So," Nora asked again, "are we there y-"

The dragons answered collectively, "Yes."

"Okay, just wanted to know," the pink dragoness nodded, "thank you."

"Alright, now we just need to find where Ruby last fell," Yang announced, "if I remember correctly-"

"Um, Yang?" Jaune asked.

"Yeah?"

"I think we might have other things to worry about than just Ruby," he pointed his talon to the ground, "look."

The dragons turned their gazes downward... and noticed what looked like a massive, seething, black tide. One that was not of nature but part of something much, much darker-

 _Grimm_. And from the looks of it, hundreds.

"Yang," Weiss spoke up, "there's no telling how much damage those things could cause if they reach any of Mistral's larger cities. Besides, we already told Ozpin and the Council we were doing a search and destroy mission anyway."

Yang sighed in defeat, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

 _Sorry, Ruby_ , Yang thought, _you'll have to wait a little bit longer_.

"Alright," the young Xiao Long declared, banking her wings, "let's go kill some monsters!"

Soon enough, Yang and the rest of her comrades began their descent toward the tide of Grimm


End file.
